Sun of Shadows/Chapter 11
This is the eleventh chapter in Sun of Shadows and the second in part two, Ice. Thick Fur Alignak. Geb gasped in astonishment. That was the name Thalassa had mentioned! "Alignak is an Elm?", he managed. "And he's here?" "Do you know that name?", Sedna asked, confused. Of course, only Karzelek and he had been present at this conversation. Geb shrugged. "Not much. Let's go to him, then maybe I can explain." Njord had followed their conversation with interest, leading the group to his sister who had gone ahead. Geb followed them. His footsteps felt strangely heavy, he had never worn shoes of this thickness before. Why would he have? It had always been warm enough in Sunstone. Still, he was grateful that he wore well-lined clothes now that helped him ignore the cold temperatures. Alignak's hut was made of wood, just like the other buildings in this place. It was smaller than Nerrivik's and Njord's; perhaps Alignak lived alone. Nerrivik knocked politely on the door - and Geb waited anxiously for the mysterious Elm. First nothing happened. "Maybe he isn't home," Iris guessed, but Nerrivik shook her head. "Wait." They did. Finally, after maybe a minute had passed, the door actually opened. Geb was startled when he saw the man facing him now: He had the same almost colorless skin as Njord, but his sparse clothing was pale as well, not darker. His eyes, too, were pale, almost white, with a slight bluish glow that reminded Geb of ice, and he looked decades older than he probably was. If Geb believed in something like that, he would have thought the man was a ghost. And yet he couldn't shake off the feeling of having seen him before... "Greetings, Alignak." Nerrivik and Njord respectfully bowed their heads. How important was Alignak anyway? The ghostlike Elm looked at them, his expression unreadable. Only in his voice was there a faint whiff of joy. "Nerrivik," he said, "Njord." What followed was a strange growl that sounded like a word at the same time - but one that Geb didn't know. Was that... how had they called it? "That's Kiujak, then," Sedna muttered next to him. Yes, that was the name of this language. Geb saw that Alignak had meanwhile discovered Perry. Again he said a word Geb didn't understand, then added, "I was expecting you." "Alignak receives visions," Njord informed them casually, as if that were nothing more than a normal job. Suddenly everything made sense. Where Thalassa - a trader from the South - knew him from and why Alignak seemed so familiar to him. "You're Arry's father." Everyone around him looked at him in surprise - except for Alignak himself. "That's right," he said calmly, without asking questions. Had his visions also shown him that the friends knew his son? He didn't stick to this topic long, at least. "Where exactly is your journey leading you? Straight to Chief Cynosura?" Sedna nodded. "The sooner we're there, the better." But Karzelek objected: "What about Nergal? He most likely isn't there yet." That was true. Son of a chief or not, Nergal wouldn't just march all across the icy land, at least not alone. "He'll be with his tribe," Geb said. "Surely they have a camp somewhere that Ani and he found. He'll wait for us there." "I have enough of the Fire Tribe," Sedna grimaced. "And I doubt that the Ice Tribe will be thrilled if we show up unannounced, especially Nergal." Geb looked at her. "What do you suggest?" She seemed as if she had an idea. Her answer was simple: "We split up." "Because that's always worked so well," Iris murmured, but sighed. "Nergal and his tribe could at least keep Shimmer warm. That would be better than sending her across the ice desert." The magpie cawed in agreement. "I should go straight to the Ice Tribe," Sedna continued. "My tribe is allied with them, unlike Nergal's acquaintances." "I'll come with you," Geb said spontaneously. He was curious about the strange tribe - and could guess that Boulder would last longer in the cold than Karzelek. "It's okay," the boy said and smiled at Iris. "Then Four-Leaf and I will go with you and Shimmer." Geb noticed that the local Water Elmen were listening to the conversation with interest. Perry, on the other hand, watched uncertainly. He didn't seem to know which group to join, but he didn't want to ask in front of everyone. Geb wanted to help him, but Sedna beat him to it: "You can come with us," she said unusually friendly. What else had they discussed that night? "And you should," Alignak agreed. "Cynosura will want to meet you as soon as possible and it is questionable if the Fire Tribe would let you go." "Well, that fits." Geb had to think about the night in the Palace of Light again. Surprised, he noticed that Iris and Karzelek also exchanged a look. Had the two of them more than just slept as well? He would ask them as soon as he got the chance. "Let me get my gear," Alignak announced, already disappearing back into his hut before anyone could answer him. Nerrivik and Njord used the time to provide the friends with provisions: Of course Boulder was perfect for this purpose, Iris and Karzelek had to carry their own belongings. Finally, Alignak came back, armed with a backpack and a spear that reminded Geb of Sunstone. He knew some Elmen who knew how to use this weapon - he wasn't one of them. A sudden thought surprised him: Can I use my magic up here? If there's earth here, then deep under the ice. Alignak's companion, whatever it was, wouldn't be able to accompany them, so water magic was also out of the game. They only had Alignak's spear and Sedna's dagger to fight off potential opponents. "No need to worry," Alignak said, seemingly feeling Geb's concern. "I used to be inland a lot in the past." Geb paused when Alignak already turned to leave. "Are we going to leave now? Don't we want to wait until dawn?" "And waste half the day?", Njord replied, confusing not only Geb but the others as well. "Uh, what time is it exactly?", Iris asked, glancing briefly at the cloudless dark sky. Alignak smiled. "It's pretty much noon. You have to keep in mind that we are almost at the end of the world, the sun isn't like on the big continents here. At this time of the year, it is not going to get brighter than now." "And in the summer, you can see the sun during the night," Nerrivik added. The friends had to process that first. "Well then, see you later," Iris said eventually, and the others also said goodbye. Nerrivik would personally point her and Karzelek to the Fire Tribe. "And don't get eaten!" "Look who's talking." Sedna elbowed Iris in the side, not too harshly of course. "Greet Ani from us." Karzelek nodded. "We will!" How did the Forest Elmin fare up here? It was certainly hard for her, to be so far away from her familiar forest and with almost no vegetation in sight. Had she even wanted to come or had Nergal forced her to do so? He really liked her, but was she more important to him than the prophecy? "Are you coming?", Sedna's voice reached him and he realized that Alignak had already walked off and Sedna was following him. Alignak had lit a torch to illuminate their path, his spear hanging over his back. Geb waved at the others one last time, then Boulder and he joined Perry and the Water Elmen. Soon they had left Siku behind and ice and snow was all Geb saw. Nevertheless, Alignak seemed to know the way, he made his way unerringly, without even hesitating. Did he orient himself on the hills and rock formations that appeared from time to time? Or was he only guided by his visions? At least there's a bit of open rock here after all, Geb thought as they passed another rock almost completely covered in snow. Maybe I really can make myself useful. While he admired the scenery - empty and dreary, yes, but he could imagine how pretty all this had to sparkle in the sunlight - Sedna looked around warily. That relieved Geb quite a bit: she would warn the others in time if something approached them. After all, you could see for miles here, even at this strange dusk. "Are you alright?", Geb asked her when he noticed that she had been focused on one direction for a while. She lifted her arm. "Something is moving back there. Do you see that?" Geb had to squint his eyes to see something, but he saw that Sedna was right: away from any cover provided by the sparse rocks, several dots were moving. It had to be massive creatures if you could see them from here... "Mammoths," Alignak stated, who had stopped to wait for the others. He too looked almost curiously in the direction of the dots. "Gigantic hairy powerhouses with tusks several feet long." Yet he didn't seem to fear them. "You can ignore them. NiKrikik won't do anything to you if you don't attack them yourself." "That was Kiujak again," Perry figured, and Alignak smiled sheepishly. "Would you prefer the common tongue?" Geb shrugged. He liked the strange language with the harsh tones that Alignak so casually used. But Sedna nodded. "If it's alright with you." "Very well." Alignak's gaze went down to the snow his feet had sunk into. "It's not a literal translation, but my tribe calls them snow-eaters." Geb looked after the animals in astonishment. "They feed on snow?" "The Ancient Civilization would be as surprised as you," Alignak said, resuming his walk. "Snow was nothing to them but water. But it is made of much more - magic." Geb still knew what Karzelek had guessed: the magic of the tribes without a Keeper still remained in nature itself, just like how the plants of the rainforest had been alive. Suddenly, walking didn't feel so safe anymore. "The snow isn't conscious though, right?" Alignak laughed without turning. "It won't eat you, if that's what you mean. But you have to remember that not all animals up here feed on meat or fish. However, as there are not enough plants here to feed several entire species, the snow provides a replacement for them. The magic makes sure they have everything they need." "Wow," was all that Geb came up with. Elysia really kept surprising him. "The counterpart of the NiKrikik are the Aggappuk," Alignak casually mentioned. "The carnivores." Geb tried to memorize the words. The easier he could later communicate with the Ice Tribe, the better. --- Much didn't happen on their journey. According to Alignak, it would take them almost three days to reach Illuk, the main settlement of the Ice Tribe, on foot, and on the second dusky day, Geb found that he'd seen enough. They met no other animals and the landscape hardly changed, so they did nothing but stubbornly trudge through the snow. That night - when it had been reasonably dark - Alignak had insisted on digging a kind of cave into a snowdrift so that they would be protected from dangerous animals and blizzards. He had also told them about his visions: The Ice Tribe was itself very spiritual and interpreted the signs of the sky and ice. Alignak had been interested in this and had been trained by an Ice Elmin until he was in tune with the magic of the North. His affection had then been accidentally inherited by Arry, whom Alignak called Arausio, and who had been struggling with his own kind of strange visions since childhood. Thalassa had taken him south, hoping that would help him - "But I'm afraid she's still mad at me." Geb had thought about that for a long time. He felt a little sorry for Arry - apparently he had never wanted his abilities. But he had managed to come to terms with them and at least somewhat become happy. And if he could do that, then they would get all their problems under control, Geb was sure of that. It just depended on the right attitude... A hissing cut through the silence and Geb whirled around in alarm. He saw that Boulder was turning around again and again and fighting something Geb couldn't see. The air around the rhino flickered strangely - what, by Terrai, was that? And what could he do about it? Geb ran to his companion as fast as the snow allowed. He didn't carry a weapon, but that didn't matter. He had to help Boulder and - "Back!" Alignak pushed past him and threw his spear into the middle of the flickering air. That's where it got stuck, there was indeed more than just air. Some kind of creature, now snarling and lunging for Alignak, who waved his torch to defend himself. But the creature wasn't afraid of him, bleeding claw marks appeared on Alignak's arm. He swore and let go of the torch, which fell into the snow and went out. Already the man went powerless to the ground, pushed down by something... something invisible. Sedna threw herself onto the creature from behind and rammed her dagger deep into what was probably its body. When she pulled it out, there was blood on it, and blood spurted from the wound it had caused. In this area, the cover of the creature seemed to diminish, Geb noticed a patch of fur that seemed to float in the air. At least in part, the creature had a form now: blood-soaked fur on one side and a still-stuck spear on the other. "What is that?", Geb shouted, trying to get at that spear. He could do more harm to the creature if only he could get his hands on the weapon... Sedna cried out, but not because of their attacker. Her eyes went in a completely different direction. Geb followed them... and saw a four-legged mountain of wool with two huge tusks that suddenly galloped right at them. Even Geb couldn't resist a scream. The animal - the mammoth, just like Alignak had described it to them - stormed right at them and would crush them all if they didn't do something fast! The invisible creature gave up its cover and fled. Fleetingly, Geb noticed that it was some kind of cat with long canine teeth that was running away from them, Alignak's spear still in the flank. Without a single sound, the mammoth galloped after it and exactly at Geb. He would never be able to dodge it in time. The animal ran right through him. Geb was so taken aback that he simply stared after the creatures. The fact that the mammoth left neither traces nor cast shadows, he noticed only fleetingly, too overwhelming was everything that had just happened. It was only when the mammoth vanished in the distance that he ventured to look at his friends. Boulder had a few scratches, but they didn't seem to be too deep. "Rub some snow on them anyway," Alignak recommended, who was also quick on his feet again. He too was unharmed except for the claw marks. Sedna, however, had gone to Perry and supported him, which surprised Geb: he hadn't been attacked at all. However, when he looked closely at the Light Elm, he saw that Perry wasn't injured either. He rather seemed... exhausted. Geb understood. "That was you," he breathed, impressed. "The mammoth." "That was overwhelming," Alignak added and smiled. "You forgot the trunk, but you couldn't have known that." "It was intimidating and that's what matters," Sedna said, helping the boy as he walked. "But next time something small will be enough." Perry grimaced. "I'm fine." Sedna only rolled her eyes. "What kind of creature was that?," Geb asked as they resumed their walk. "A carnivore?" "An Aggappuk, yes." Alignak trudged forward, it seemed to bother him that he had lost his spear, not to mention the now wet torch. Or was there another reason for his sudden bad mood? "You could have told us in advance that there are invisible predators here," Sedna commented and Alignak sighed. "I know the saber-teeth, that's true. But usually they hunt much further west. This should never have happened." "Can... all the animals do that?," Geb dared to ask and looked around nervously for further flickering in the air. This place had suddenly become eerie to him. Alignak glanced over his shoulder. "No, only the Aggappuk. Hunting is hard when the prey sees you miles in advance. Therefore, their share of ice magic is to merge with this environment." That wasn't very reassuring. But Geb nodded thankfully, they just had to keep an eye out from now on. "This animal was probably in the area because the Fire Tribe is camped in the west," Sedna guessed. "That makes sense," it came from the front. "That explains why I didn't know about it. I haven't been this far away from the coast for a long time." Sedna grimaced. "Is there anything else we should know?" "No," Alignak assured her. "Nothing I wouldn't notice in time." So they kept walking. After some time, Perry had recovered for the most part and got by without Sedna's help. The Water Elmin was more alert than before and watched their surroundings carefully so as not to be overwhelmed again. Boulder trudged on slowly, slightly weakened by the wounds that could hopefully be treated by the Ice Tribe. Geb stayed close to him - they both felt better that way. "Careful," Sedna warned suddenly and stopped. The others did the same and looked at her questioningly. What had she seen? "Something is moving over there. No mammoths, I think." Alignak followed her gaze. "You're right. They're different creatures... but I can't see exactly which ones. We better stay at a distance." Relieved, Geb continued on his way with the others. But soon it came from Sedna again: "They're coming closer." Alignak mumbled something in Kiujak, then turned to the group. "Then we'll let them come. Without the spear, we have bad chances in combat... but we have an Elm of Light on our side after all. If he uses his magic, we'll be safe." "If he's strong enough," Sedna said, looking at Perry as well. "Do you think you can do that from earlier again?" He opened his mouth to answer, but a deep roar interrupted him. It came from the direction of the creatures that were actually getting bigger and bigger on the horizon and carrying small colored points of light. Was that a kind of battle cry? They had to get away from here! A smile appeared on Alignak's face. "These aren't wild animals," he realized. "They're Ice Elmen!" "Who could attack us as well," Perry pointed out. Alignak shook his head and passed the friends until he was closest to the newcomers. "Leave that to me." The Water Elm seemed absolutely convinced to be able to make peace with the strange Elmen. Geb looked at them a little more confidently and especially curiously. How strange might these Elmen be to them, as isolated as they lived? Boulder snorted in surprise and Geb was astonished as well when the creatures approached. One of them was a rhino - with fur! White fur as thick as the artificial mammoth's - and this animal was almost as tall. And real. Geb just couldn't see an Elm anywhere. He only saw a transparent orb around its neck in which a greenish mist was pulsing, and a smaller hill of fur on the back of the animal. The other animals were a bear and a deer, as huge as the rhino and with the same white fur. They also had orbs of light, this time pink, and oddly misshapen spots on the back. The one of the rhinoceros moved and landed in the snow. It was another animal, a kind of ape, standing in front of them on two massive legs, each as tall as Perry. Long white fur covered its body, except for the hands and the face resting on a comparatively small head and almost nonexistent neck. Everything else - shoulders, arms, legs - were wide and the latter thick like tree trunks. Geb wasn't used to looking up to see someone's face. But what he saw there shocked him. He was looking into utterly Elmlike eyes. Geb was so overwhelmed that he stumbled and had to lean against Boulder. That was an Ice Elm? The creature uttered deep sounds that Geb couldn't interpret. Were these supposed to be words? Did it sound like that when you were fluent in Kiujak? Alignak at least seemed to understand the creature easily and replied as soon as the giant had ended. The giant's pitch remained unreached for him, his vocal cords could hardly keep up. But he spoke with great conviction, the harsh sounds sounded almost melodious for him. He also gestured vehemently, alternating between himself and Perry and the others. The Ice Elm, on the other hand, was far too cumbersome for that, Geb supposed; he remained almost motionless. Geb had no choice but to wait for a decision. Sedna and Perry, too, looked uncertainly at the adults, and the Light Elm winced whenever he heard his name between the strange sounds. Finally, however, Alignak nodded to them. "No need to worry. Rastaban and the others are ready to take us to Illuk. They also allow us to ride on the backs of their companions." That was good news. But Geb also knew that Boulder was still slightly injured and his fastest pace in the snow wouldn't last long - and he would need that to keep up with those giants. When he told Alignak about this worry, the Water Elm frowned and turned to the giant, who was apparently named Rastaban. Again, they exchanged sounds, this time Alignak repeatedly pointed to Boulder. Rastaban's face brightened as he seemed to understand. He raised an arm - and Boulder was lifted into the air. As Geb looked more closely, he realized that Rastaban had used his ice magic to create a kind of ice raft on which Boulder could stand. That would be easy to transport for the alien Elmen and, more importantly, Boulder could relax. Geb looked up at Rastaban, then at Alignak. He had heard that the Ice Elmen understood a few words of his language, but since they were already here... "What does 'thank you' mean?", he asked the Water Elm. He smiled. "Nakummek." "Nakummek," Geb repeated softly, before turning to Rastaban, who watched him with interest. "Nakummek." The giant grinned widely. He leaned down and grabbed Geb in both arms before seemingly effortlessly placing him on the back of his woolly rhinoceros. Apparently Geb would be riding with him. Category:Chapters Category:EE3 Chapters